IOC group firm takes up Rs 3,110.36-cr Resid upgradation proj

Indian Oil Corp group company Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) has undertaken a major Rs 3,110.36 crore Resid upgradation project to improve its profitability, a top official said here today.

"This is one of the most important projects your corporation is targeting for improving its profitability.

"The Resid upgradation project is aimed to maximise the distillate yield of Manali refinery and increase the percentage of high sulphur crude processing", IOCL Chairman and Managing Director R S Butola said at the company's 47th Annual General Meeting.

"The project is being implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 3,110.36 crore," he said.

He said the project would increase distillate yield by about seven per cent,leading to improvement in the bottomline. The Environment Ministry accorded clearance to the the project in March 2013 and it is scheduled to be complemented by end December 2015, he said.

On the Corporation's another major project, he said the company is currently implementing a Mounded Bullet Storage facility for LPG and petrochemical feedstock at an estimated cost of Rs 279 crore at its Manali Refinery in Chennai.

"The project was taken up in April 2013 and will be mechanically completed by end October 2014", he said.

On the company's new 42" crude oil pipeline project at Rs 126 crore from Chennai Port Trust to Manali, he said the Corporation was awaiting Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance.

"This new crude pipeline at Rs 126 crore will ensure reliable and faster crude transfer from Port, thereby bringing down berth occupancy and demurrage charges. The project has been reviewed by expert appraisal committee of Ministry of Environment and Forest and recommended for Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance. We are awaiting final environmental clearance of the project", he said.

Besides, the company is also contemplating a project to increase capacity of Manali Refinery by 6 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) to address the projected supply-demand gap. "The process configuration has been finalised and further evaluation is in progress," he said.

He said another plan to install a Single Point Mooring Facility off Ennore Port to facilitate crude oil transportation through "very large crude carriers is also being conceptualised for further evaluation".

"The project,estimated to cost about Rs 863 crore,is aimed at optimising the transportation cost," he said.